LegalZoom IPO Is Said to Be Delayed

Online legal services company LegalZoom.com Inc has delayed its initial public offering due to market conditions, according to an underwriting source.

The Glendale, California-based firm was trying to raise as much as $96 million by pricing eight million shares at a range of $10 to $12.

The delay was the latest in a string of postponements and reduced deal sizes this week.

Earlier on Thursday, sustainable chemical company Genomatica Inc pulled its $100 million initial public offering.

Spinal implant manufacturer Globus Medical Inc, meanwhile, cut the size of its offering as well as its price range. While the company had expected to sell 11.8 million shares in a price range of $16 to $18 per share, it decreased its plan to sell 8.3 million shares between $12 and $13 per share.

Founded in 2001, LegalZoom helps customers draw up legal documents such as wills, incorporations and trademarks without lawyers and hefty fees. The company has served over two million customers in the past 10 years, it said in its registration statement.

Last year, LegalZoom's revenue climbed 29 percent to $156 million. It swung to a profit of $12.1 million, after two straight years of losses.

LegalZoom co-founder Robert Shapiro is famous for being part of O.J. Simpson's legal defense team. He worked on the case with Robert Kardashian, the late father of reality TV star Kim Kardashian.

LegalZoom was among the first companies to file for its IPO confidentially with the Securities and Exchange Commission using the JOBS Act. This provision allows companies with less than $1 billion in annual revenue to submit registration paperwork for initial public offerings outside of the public eye. The paperwork isn't seen by outsiders until 21 days before the company's roadshow, used to market IPO shares to investors.

In 2011, LegalZoom raised $66 million in its most recent round of funding from investors including Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.